Naruto: Discordance
by Pineapple's Fidelity
Summary: au, wip — where minato survives, after a fashion, the events of october tenth and raises naruto.
1. Chapter 0

**title: **naruto: discordance **  
fandom:** naruto**  
rating: **t**  
genre:** angst/family/mystery**  
summary: **au — where minato survives, after a fashion, the events of october tenth and raises naruto.

* * *

**prologue**

He stared at the child—_no, baby, so stupid maybe that was why they di_— refusing to let his eyes wander elsewhere. Nothing else existed, nothing _could_ with his fraying sanity, but the babe swaddled in his arms. The small thing with bright blonde hair.

_just like his father and his father's twin_— Much like his own (and only his own). In stood up in a way his never had, however. Strange little markings, much like inverted scars, adorned the babe's cheeks reminding him of the newborn's prisoner.

A jinchuuriki…Not even several hours into his life and the babe—_naruto,his name was naruto_—was cursed to the same life as his mother—

No. Nothing. There's absolutely nothing besides him and this beautiful baby boy Naruto.

_no corpses, no seals, no altar_

He blinked as small wet spots appeared across the cloak—_the only difference in dress between him and_—the cloak Naruto was wrapped in.

Rain?

Was it raining? He didn't feel any…

Hiruzen came into the clearing with a couple other shinobi and called in surprise, "Minato!"

His head snapped up in response as he realized the smattering of damp spots upon the signature Yondaime cloak did not come from rain. But his own tears.

He slowly looked up at the Sandaime as reality, unwilling to be ignored, crashed down on him. His brother, his twin, the other half of himself would no longer smile again. Nor would a red-haired confidant, friend, holder of part of his heart, ever laugh away the troubles of the world. In his heart he felt an aching for a loud-mouthed and completely loyal woman. In his soul he felt the missing space, empty and lacking, where a man of quiet countenance and brash confidence used to reside.

There was no denying. Not with the Sandaime glancing over at two bodies lying not far away—one a doppelgänger of himself—before looking back with horrid realization. Something he begged the former hokage not to share with his own gaze. He knew what he had to say. Had already decided he _needed_ to say it. No one else could. Only him. But the words stuck in his throat bringing an ache that pounded in his ears.

Feeling his eyes dry with horrified numbness, he announced finally in a hoarse tone, "Uzumaki Kushina and Namikaze Arashi are dead."

Seven words which forever changed his life.

_if only he'd been more like him_

* * *

**note:** Italics are thoughts from our blonde hence the lack of capitalization. I thought that lack of grammar would emphasize those words lack of really 'belonging' in the reading. How'd that work out? Yea or nay?


	2. Chapter 1

**chapter one**

_Across the room Jiraiya was leaned against a wall, arms crossed._

_"Minato…"_

_The other sounded uncomfortable. As if saying that name was a particular distaste to the man. He wondered why…This thought, the following blink and pause in writing all happened within seconds._

_"Ah, yes, Jiraiya-sensei?" Minato asked, a strange mix of sheepishness and discomfort crossing his face. He sounded more confused about the title tacked onto the white haired man's name than anything._

_Jiraiya stared him a moment before saying humorously, "Y'don't need to call me that now that you're hokage y'know."_

_But their gazes never unlocked. Minato did not press for the real issue._

_"Old habits die hard…," the blonde murmured half heartedly twirling the pen in his hand around his fingers. He sighed. "What are you doing here, Jiraiya? I'm grateful for your presence really…" He was, truthfully. Just three days since…_that_…and he was barely holding it together. Even with Jiraiya and the Sandaime's help. If it'd only been the former hokage there he was unsure how it would be. Yet…"We've asked for you before during hard times. You've never come." Back and forth across his fingers. Hypnotic, really._

_"Don't be a brat," responded Jiraiya. Maybe a bit harshly. "I had important things to do. I couldn't just up and leave."_

_He tried not to clench his teeth. Honestly, he didn't know his brother had stood this man. At the thought of his dead relative his teeth really did clench. The pen stopped. He couldn't help but grit out, "Not even for for_ that?"

_Jiraiya tensed his half playful air gone and in the shadows there was a shifting as Minato's chakra spiked. A moment later the tension of angergriefpain dissipated and Minato's happy and open poker face was back on._

_Jiraiya only whistled in reply. "Damn, kid."_

_The blonde focused on the pen in his hand. The motions it took to continue the fiddling. Silence hung between the stubborn men. There was an apology to be found but not here or now. Finally, with a relenting grunt the large man uncrossed his arms and strode towards the desk._

_"I'm here to watch you for the old man. He's worried." A sort of olive branch._

_"It's under control." Blue did not meet grey._

_Jiraiya frowned. Then, without preamble, "Clean up your act." This time blue did meet grey in a furious flare. "They'll give you another day or two at most," cut in the white-haired man before the younger could offer any protest. "Then they'll begin to doubt. If you want to lead you have to fill the role. Completely. Push _them_ out of your mind if you have to. You can't afford to be off in la-la when someone calls for you anymore!"_

_Minato erupted from his seat, hands slamming onto his desk, as he stood eye to smoldering eye with the larger man. From his expression and flaring chakra Jiraiya could tell the Yondaime wanted so badly to argue and knew the kid wouldn't. Minato was neither selfish enough to ask for being allowed to wallow in pity or stupid enough to refute the truth. The white haired man knew also that the truth was a bitter thing to swallow and was unsurprised when Minato growled with thinly veiled threat, "Leave. Now."_

_As soon as the toad sage was walking through the door Minato slumped into his seat hands coming up to rub his temples. The man stiffened a second later at the sound of a door slamming—_

He jerked awake as if the sound came from his waking life, true and clear. With a hissing sigh the Yondaime sat up running a hand through his blond hair. His shadows relaxed in their hidden places upon realizing his stress was only dream related. Not an attack.

Sometimes he would question why certain memories haunted his sleep. Other times, such as now, he knew exactly why. With intravillage relationships as stressed and tense as they were with the Uchiha—possibly soon to be traitors, possibly not—he was second guessing every decision and move he made. He'd only been so uncertain once before, after the kyuubi attack (which he could finally remark upon without wanting to scream). Perhaps his subconscious was trying to give him a pep talk of sorts. The thought made him laugh as he scratched the back of his neck. If so, it was a shitty one.

The man stood, stretching and dressing. He knew he would get no more sleep tonight. Especially, if those particular memories waited for him.

He snatched his iconic cloak from its hook and padded a well-known path down bare hallways.

He often wondered if, for Naruto, he should decorate the large mansion (traditional home passed down through the Hokages) beyond its sparse furnishings. The shinobi in him always rejected the idea. No need to offer an enemy more possible weapons, it reasoned. And so the spartan look stayed causing the large home, already seemingly too big for him, Naruto, and the few staff he employed, feel emptier.

He came to a door with a hand made "KEEP OUT" sign taped to it. Shrugging into his coat, he opened the door silently to peer in on the sleeping child within. Naruto went on snoring peacefully, unperturbed.

The elder blond smiled slightly at the sight feeling as if it had only been yesterday when he'd kept a baby in his arms or within arm's reach. (Approximately eight months later Sarutobi convinced a harried Hokage to get a caretaker).

He was unsurprised when said caretaker came up behind him touched his arm lightly. He was in fact pleased that the tokubetsu jonin, known as Yori Miyazaki, had come to check on Naruto's night visitor. Even though it was him. He turned his head to meet Yori's imploring eyes and gave a nod to assure her all was well. She visibly relaxed.

"Yondaime-sama," she greeted. "Will you be back for breakfast?"

Minato glanced over Naruto's sleeping form once more before shutting the bedroom. Yori sounded as if his presence back at the home in the next few hours just might be imperative. He wondered what important thing he was forgetting.

"Ah…what is tomorrow?" Minato asked in a murmur. His mind ran over everything he'd nailed as important on his mental calendar.

"It's Naruto's first day at—"

Yori was cut off just as a flash of realization crossed Minato's face and he blurted simultaneously, "Academy Orientation Day. Thank you, Yori-san."

The purple-eyed woman nodded sharing a humorous smile with Minato, "Anything, Yondaime-sama."

The current hokage thought about the chances of making it back. It hadn't been too busy lately (both a curse and a blessing in its own way) so he didn't suspect he'd be swamped as soon as be arrived at Hokage Tower but something unexpected could drag him away…

"Probably," he finally settled on saying. "Don't have him expect me."

"I will keep a plate warm, nonetheless."

The two exchanged nods of understanding before Minato disappeared in his characteristic yellow flash leaving his frustrated guards to sprint to the tower after him.

(—)

Predictably, Naruto adopted an unhappy disposition when he learned his father was absent.

"But he promised!" The five-soon-to-be-six-year-old declared in outrage.

Yori, after she finished tying her dark brown hair back at the nape of her neck, shot Naruto a dubious look.

"Are you sure, Naruto-sama? Because I've never known that man to make a promise and not keep it," she reasoned.

Naruto pouted his brow furrowing as he fought to remember his father's words. Finally hand clenching on his favorite stuffed toad (Jiraiya would be so proud) the boy looked down at the floor scuffing at it with his toe.

"No…"

The jonin grimaced and ruffled the boy messy mop of hair. "I'm sure he'll try very hard to make it," she consoled. "Now, are you sure you want to wear your best clothes to breakfast?"

Naruto perked up and shouted, "Yeah! It's m'lucky shirt, Yori-nee-chan! Gotta wear it all th' time t'day!"

"Yori-san," she corrected automatically and uselessly. Two years going and Naruto still hadn't given up the nickname. Yori sighed eyeing the bright white shirt with the orange swirl in the center. She could just imagine the boy getting chocolate syrup from his so called "extra-special chocolately awesome breakyfast" all over the darned thing. Her hand left her chin to poke Naruto in the chest. "Just wear a napkin," she consented.

The boy dashed off to the dining room with a whoop and holler. The woman shook her head exasperatedly and followed after a smile on her face. She remembered being wary of taking on the task Naruto's caretaker when she'd first signed up. Yes, she was a kunoichi and one raised in a seal practicing family of shinobi, but one could not easily forget the destructive force meted out on Konoha by the kyuubi or the fear its poisonous chakra exuded. No matter what logic dictated.

Her first interactions with the boy had been when he was a babe and then they were stuff mockery of being a caretaker. Touching him only when needed or absolutely necessary. To her relief it'd only taken a couple days to realize what she knew. That Naruto and the kyuubi were most definitely separate beings. Naruto the warden and The kyuubi a prisoner. (She still had some mortification looking back at her first days.) After that, Yori had the pleasure of raising one of the sunniest, if occasionally obnoxious, child she'd ever met.

Her smile flickered briefly as another thought hit her.

Her time as Naruto's caretaker would probably come to an end soon. Maybe not for a year or so, but the boy was growing up and was to enter the academy just today. He wouldn't need her around so much after that. The shinobi academy taught self-reliance rather swiftly and early on.

Yori's smile returned when she came upon the dining room. Naruto's own exuberant grin showing its infectiousness once more.

"Look! Look! I set the plates!" Naruto cried proudly nearly bouncing in his seat. He gestured grandly to the two set places.

The jonin smiled staring at her hopelessly chocolate syrup drowned chocolate chip pancakes. She was glad she'd thought to place the pile of pancakes on the table so Naruto had not gone near the stove.

"Thank you," she said sitting down and taking care to show particular relish in her first bite.

Naruto beamed.

Who knew, Yori thought watching the boy eat and make a mess of everything (thankfully, he'd worn a napkin). Perhaps, her duties would lessen or change but she could nonetheless stick around to help take care of the little blond-haired, blue-eyed, hokage mini she thought of as a much younger brother.

(—)

At least he'd gotten to do this, the Yondaime mused wondering just what karma god he'd pissed off. Today of all days he'd been dragged out by one of those 'unexpectedly urgent events that needs the hokage' causing him to miss Naruto's specially planned breakfast. From the sullen look he'd been thrown upon entrance and lack of greeting the energetic blond probably hadn't forgiven him yet. He hasn't quite forgiven himself either. Even if it was a silly thing to hold guilt over, he did, because it'd been important to Naruto and therefore him as well.

As he went on with the speech he'd prepared and probably revised a dozen times (It didn't matter if it had worked a hundred times before for Naruto it had to be perfect) he slipped the sullen yet attentive boy a secret smile. A reluctant grin, Naruto dropped his head into his arms to hide it, came in in return.

It's a start…,he decided, somewhat relived, before continuing on without pause to an audience of children probably too awestruck to really pay attention.

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**note:** (-) denotes a scene change. No romantic relationship between Yori and the Yondaime will happen. Sorry if you had hopes. Also, a warning there will be some major time skips (at least two) in coming chapters. I apologize if this chapter seems to have no purpose I promise it did.


End file.
